Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/678459
44 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | MAY 2016 process," says Ritch. "All these guys in that space are trying to fi gure out how to deliver something at an effective price point with proper service standards. We are one of the early players, and we continue to provide excellent service." Building a better platform The challenge Progistics Distribution faced was providing top-notch ser- vice to a wide variety of customers in various geographic regions across North America while managing its fleet and drivers. To help it manage its business as an integrated system rather than dispa- rate operations by region, Progistics Distribution set out in search of third-party solutions, but it found no providers that could solve ecommerce problems they had never seen before. When a large furniture vendor asked Progistics Distribution management how to create a same-day home deliv- ery freight solution delivering hun- dreds of furniture loads from a single warehouse, the company realized its answer would require building its own technology platform that would pro- vide transparency and accountability for its customers. Fortunate to be near the technology capital of the world, Progistics Distribu- tion developed a robust technology team of Silicon Valley talent to develop a pro- prietary system for the last-mile industry. The result was its TAGNET and eDemand technology platforms that the company says "offers the distribu- tion industry signifi cant productivity gains and measurable customer service improvements." TAGNET is Progistics Distribu- tion's internal portal and serves as its main messaging processing gateway, accessible by company drivers and in- dependent contractors in the fi eld. Ele- ments include modules for reporting, electronic data interchange, document management and unifi ed messaging. "The driving force for developing TAGNET was that part of our busi- ness model is centered on independent contractors, and there were no tools that did compliance for ICs, schedul- ing and constant contact in one pack- age," says Sean O'Steen, chief technol- ogy offi cer. "We also wanted to create something where we could get order status on one webpage." The TAGNET platform features a control number lookup that provides a one-page view of an order's entire lifecycle, including emails, phone call recordings and order notes. In a few cases, customers have extranet logins to the system and have the same visibility and clear access to their order information without hav- ing to go through Progistics Distribu- tion's customer service department. "TAGNET gives us two main ben- efi ts – transparency for shipper and consignee, and responsiveness," says O'Steen. "We feel it really reduces costs and gives us a competitive advantage." The eDemand web app, currently in beta testing, is Progistics Distribu- tion's latest application that enables the company to tap into its network of drivers, connecting them via their mobile devices to enable communica- tion between businesses, drivers and brokers. It optimizes the planning and routing of operations, taking time constraints, vehicle constraints, driver rules and customer requirements into consideration. "We don't have to have dispatch for items that we have enough lead time on, so the lowest bidder can accept the work and get it done without interac- tion," says O'Steen. Progistics Distri- bution expects to offi cially roll out the eDemand app this spring. "Response from our ICs has been very good," says O'Steen. "It creates an equal marketplace, and they can make more at the end of the day by lining up work along the corridor." To help lower operating costs in the last-mile segment, Progistics Distribu- tion also matches individual ship- ments to the most effi cient vehicle in its fl eet, which includes tractor-trailers, straight trucks, pickups and vans with fl atbed and refrigerated capabilities. The company's fl eet mix allows it to do "anything and everything where we can make a profi t," says Ritch. "You'd better have the right equipment to get all the product moved correctly." In the last four years, Progistics Distribution has grown from $20 million in sales to $65 million today with hopes of eclipsing $85 million by yearend. Ritch says that even with the company's robust growth, it has bigger ambitions for the future. "Our goal is to merge with or acquire equity to where we can be- come a national player all under one entity," says Ritch. "If you look at the ecommerce world and large logis- tics companies, 'last mile' is on the tip of their tongues, but they don't understand it. We will grow without hesitation. The only limitation is finding the customer." CC J I N N O VATO R S pro les carriers and eets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking's challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact Je Crissey at jcrissey@ccjmagazine.com or 800-633-5953. Joel Ritch, CEO of Progistics Distribution, says ecommerce has dramatically changed the landscape of the last-mile delivery business in the last three to four years.